Covered buttons, buckles, and the like



June 21, 1950 H. KOEHL Em. 2,513,182

COVERED BUTTONS, BUCKLES, AND THE LIKE Filed July 7, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet1 F 4 l a .2! -5 F/G Q F/G. 1 Fla.

INVENTOR. I v M M i June 27, 1950 Filed Jul 7, 1949 H. KOEHL EIIALcovmzn BUTTONS, BUCKLES, AND THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. lZ

N V TOR. M

H. KOEHL EI'AL COVERED BUTTONS, BUCKLES, AND THE LIKE Jl m e 27, 1950 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 7, 1949 VENTOR. uvwx M Patented June 27, 1950UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,513,182 ooveiuzn nn'r'rous, BUCKLES, ANDTHE mu:

Herman Koehl and Hans A. Prym, Woodstock,

Com, assignors to Prym Engineering Company, Killingly, Com, apartnership Application July I, 1949, Serial No. 103,400

Claims. (01. 24-113) Our invention relates to parts for assemblingcovered buttons, buckles and the like. More particularly, it concernsmeans whereby any desired flexible covering material can easily beattached to the form pieces of such articles without the use of specialequipment and skill.

The covering of buttons, buckles and the like with special fabrics,leather and similar flexible covering materials, in order to make sucharticles match or complement the appearance of the clothing on whichthey are to be used, has generally been entrusted to specialty shops.This is because special machinery or tools and experienced operators arerequired to assemble such articles, when employing the parts nowavailable. It is frequently very inconvenient for the seamstress orhousewife to turn over to someone else the task of preparing suchspecially covered articles, so that there has long been an unsatisfieddemand for some very simple and efl'ective means of preparing thesearticles at home.

The principal object of our invention is to provide parts for buttons,buckles and the like, that can be suitably covered and assembled tofinished articles without the need for special equipment, experience orskill. A particular ob- J'ect is a form piece over which the flexiblecovering material may easily be stretched, provided with integral meansfor holding the covering material thereon. Another object is a closuremember for the back of the form piece, adapted releasably to lock thecovering material in place upon the latter. A further object is toprovide holding and locking means designed to accommodate variousthicknesses of covering material. Additional objects and advantages willbecome apparent from the following detailed description of ourinvention.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings illustrating severalembodiments of the invention. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of sheet metal blank from which a form piece for abutton is made.

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the form piece made from the blank shown inFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a, section of the form piece taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a sew-on loop having resilient arms andextensions for insertion in the form piece.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the sew-on loop.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the form piece with the arms andextensions of the sew-on loop inserted therein.

Fig. 7 is a similar sectional view showing the flexible coveringmaterial stretched over the form piece and held thereon by the integralholding means.

Fig. 8 is a, bottom'view of a closure member showing the slot throughwhich the sew-on loop passes.

Fig. 9 is a section of the closure member taken on the line 9-9 of Fig.8.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view showing the completely assembled, coveredbutton produced by snapping the closure member of Figs. 8 and 9 into theopening of the covered form piece shown in Fig. 7.

Figs. 11 and 12 are sectional views of completely assembled, coveredbuttons including alternative forms of closure members.

Fig. 13 is a bottom view of a form piece for a buckle according to ourinvention.

Fig. 14 is a section of the form piece taken on the line "-14 of Fig.13.

Fig. 15 is a plan view of a closure member designed for use inconnection with the form piece of Figs. 13 and 14.

Fig. 16 is a section of the closure member taken on the line l6-l6 of Fi15.

Fig. 17 is a sectional view showing the completely assembled coveredbuckle produced by forcing the closure member of Figs. 15 and 16 intothe opening of a covered form piece as shown in Figs. 13 and 14.

Fig. 18 is a bottom view of another form piece for a buckle, this timehaving a rectangular rather than a round shape.

The sheet metal blank I of Fig. 1 is easily produced by punching it fromstrips. It is provided along its edge portions with pointed teeth 2 fora purpose to be described. This sheet metal blank is then pressed intothe shape of the form piece shown in Figs. 2 and 3'. That iorm piece hasthe shape of a round cap 3 with a continuous outer rim and an opening Iat the back, which is lined with the inwardly pointed teeth 2 directedtoward the center of the space enclosed by the cap.

The next step in assembling the button of Figs. 1 to 12 is to insert thesew-on loop of Figs. 4 and 5 into the form piece of Fig. 3, as shown inFig. 6. This sew-on loop is composed of a single piece of wire. Itincludes a loop portion 5, two arms 6 and extensions 1. These arms andextensions fit inside the round cap 3 adjacent its inner surface to holdthe sew-on loop resiliently thereto with its loop portion 5 extendingbeyond the opening. The resilient nature of the sew-on loop constitutesan advantageous feature of our invention, because it imparts a springaction to the loop portion 5. This enables one to sew the assembledbutton closely on to an article of clothing, giving it a neatappearance, and yet to use such a button for buttoning-on a thickfabric.

Fig. 7 shows the manner in which the flexible covering material 8 isstretched over the round cap 3 and held thereon by means of the pointedteeth 2. It should be noted that the points of these teeth are directedinwardly, i. e. toward the center of the interior of the cap 3. This isan important feature of our invention, since it permits the stretchingof the flexible covering material 8 over the rim of cap 3 and aids inholding it firmly and evenly over the front of the cap 3; i

We prefer to shape our form piece in sucha man the stretching andattachment of the flexible covering material.

The final step in assembling the covered button is to insert a closuremember into the opening of the form piece. A preferred form of closuremember is shown in Figs. 8 and 9. It is composed of a sheet metal disc 9provided with a slot l and a folded rim II.

The fully assembled button is shown in Fig. 10. It will be noted thatthe folded rim ll of the sheet metal disc 9 bears against the-inwardly,pointed teeth 2, thereby additionally securing the covering material Ito the cap 3. The loop portion of the sew-0n loop passes through theslot Ill.

The inwardly pointed teeth 2 cooperate resiliently with the folded rimll of the disc 9, so that the closure member may be snapped into theform piece. -While being inserted, this closure member helps to stretchthe covering material 8 evenly over the cap 3. An advantage of thepointed teeth 2 and their resilient cooperation with the rim or edge ofthe closure member, is that our device will accommodate coveringmaterial of varying thicknesses. It is possible for the ointed teeth topenetrate the covering material more or less deeply and for the pointsto' act as springs bearing against the closure member.

As indicated in Figs. 11 and 12, our closure members may be made in avariety of different forms. In Fig. 11 the closure member is composed ofa dish-shaped disc i2 of resilient material. In order to impart greaterresilience to its outer edge, this'dish-shaped disc is'provided with aplurality of incisions II. This enables the disc l2 to be forced' pastthe inwardly pointed teeth 2,

so that the edge of that disc will hold the covering material 8 tightlyagainst the pointed teeth.

The closure member shown in Fig. 12 consists of a simple, fiat disc llcomposed of compresslble material such as rubber, cork composi- 5 of thesewing loop may pass. a

In Figs. 13 to 1'7 are shown the parts of the assemblyof a coveredbuckle according to our invention. The hollow, sheet metal, form piecein this case is ring shaped and provided at'the back with an opening 2|that is lined with serrated "i5 ner that the serrated edges lie closelyadjacent to the outer rim of the form piece, thereby pro- 3 viding amaximum sized opening and facilitating 4 teeth 22 of said serrated edgesperform the same function as in the button shown in the previousfigures. In this case the center of the space enclosed by the hollowform piece -is not a single point but a series of points constituting acenter line. The form piece for the buckle is provided with the-usualcrossbar 23 which causes but a minor interruption of the adjacentserrated edge. The closure member shown in Figs. 15 and 16 is a simplewasher 24 composed of resilient, compresslble. aterial. It is insertedinto the opening 2| and holds the covering material 25 tightly againstthe inwardly pointed teeth 22. as can best be seen in Fig. 17. Obviouslythis closure member may also take diiferent forms analogous to the formsillustrated in Figs. 8 to 11. The form piece shown in Fig. 18 likewisehas inwardly pointed teeth 28 lining the opening 21 and directed towardthe center line of the space enclosed by the hollow form piece.Obviously the closure member for this form piece should have a shapecorresponding tosaid opening 21. Fig.- 18 is included to illustrate thefact that our 4 invention is not limited to roimd shapes. It will beevident to anyone that a great variety of different shapes of buttons,buckles and the like are possible, embodying the principles of ourinvention.

By-means of the parts described above it is possible for the'housewifeor seamstress to prepare buttons having any desired flexible coveringmaterial in the home without use of special equipment. No particularskill or experience is necessary to stretch the covering material evenlyover the form piece and to attach it thereto-by means of the inwardlypointed teeth. These ,teeth hold the material securely and cooperatewith the rim of the closure member to lock it -thereon. The-insertion ofthe closure member serves to impart additional tension to the coveringmaterial and to assure an unwrinkled covering.

One advantage of our device is that the covering material can be readilyreplaced, if desired.

This can be done by forcing the resiliently fitting closure member outof the opening of the form piece by means of a pointed instrumentinserted between the inwardly pointed teeth. After removal of theclosure member, the covering material can be lifted off the pointedteeth and re- 30 by means of the closure member.

Many other modificatiom will be apparent to those skilled in the artwithout departing from the principles of our invention. Thus, ourinvention is not limited to the particular materials mentioned. Forexample, the form piece may be made of plastic instead of sheet metal.All such modifications are included within the scope of the appendedclaims, unless expressly excluded by the limitations set forth therein.

' We claim:

1. A device of the class described. comprising a hollow form piecehaving a continuous outer rim and a relatively large opening at the backinto which a flexible covering material can easily be e s f h Sheetmetal- The inwardly pointfidit" inserted, the "edges of said openingbeing located with inwardly pointed teeth directed toward the center ofthe space enclosed by the hollow form piece, for holding such coveringmaterial and permitting it to be stretched over the outer surface of theform piece.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a hollow sheet metal formpiece having a continuous outer rim and a relatively large opening atthe back into which a flexible covering material can easily be inserted,the edges of said opening being continuous, located closely adjacent tosaid outer rim and lined with inwardly pointed teeth directed toward thecenter of the space enclosed by the hollow form piece, for holding suchcovering material and permitting it to be stretched over the outersurface of the form piece, and a closure member for said opening fittingresiliently against the inwardly pointed teeth of said edges.

3. A device of the class described, comprising a hollow sheet metal formpiece having a continuous outer rim and a relatively large opening atthe back, the edges of said opening being located closely adjacent tosaid outer rim and being lined with inwardly pointed teeth directedtoward the center of the space enclosed by the hollow form piece, aclosure member for said opening fitting resiliently against the inwardlypointed teeth of said edges, and a sew-on loop of wire having armsextending into the form piece ad- Jacent its inner surface withextensions bearing against the inner rim thereof and its outer loopportion passing through an opening in the closure member. v 4. A coveredbutton, buckle and the like, comprising a hollow sheet metal form piecehaving a continuous rim and a relatively large opening at the back, theedges of said opening being continuous, located closely adjacent to saidouter rim and lined with inwardly pointed teeth directed toward thecenter of the space enclosed by the hollow form piece, a flexiblecovering material stretched over the form piece and held thereon by theinwardly pointed teeth, and a closure member for said opening fittingresiliently against the inwardly pointed teeth of said edges, therebyadditionally securing the covering material to the form piece.

5. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the closure member iscomposed of a, sheet metal disc having a folded rim near its edge.forming a trough therewith into which fit the points of the teeth liningthe opening at the back of the form piece.

HERMAN KOEHL. HANS A. PRYM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,213,695 Scutti Jan. 23, 19171,426,651 Kleinmann Aug. 22, 1922 2,087,201 Cox July 13, 1937 2,089,389Lyon Aug. 10, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 62,334Switzerland Nov. '7, 1919 439,786 Germany Jan. 18, 1927 507,295 GreatBritain June 19, 1939 512,528 Great Britain Sept. 19, 1939

